Beck v. Merritt

Steele Hays, Justice.

The primary issue presented by this appeal has not been decided previously, that is, whether our dower statutes 1 violate the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment where the decedent dies intestate. The Probate Judge held, correctly we think, that there is no gender-based discrimination between dower and curtesy in cases of intestacy and, accordingly, he awarded dower to the surviving spouse. On appeal, we affirm.

Elmer Merritt died intestate on January 30, 1981 2 leaving an estate consisting mainly of land in Garland County. He was survived by a widow,…